


Therapy Bird

by Firekitten



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Post-Volume 6 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-07 22:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17969261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firekitten/pseuds/Firekitten
Summary: The events in Argus might be over and done with, but when sleepless nights and arguments result in needing to console both his nieces, Qrow accepted that the problems left behind have only begun to fester.





	Therapy Bird

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the practice of certain organizations that use birds as a therapeutic treatment to provide comfort and affection to struggling individuals.

Qrow awoke in a cold sweat, unsure if he had dreamed something awful or if he’d only been brought to consciousness by the headache jackhammering its way through his skull. Gingerly, he sat up, covering his eyes from the bits of light coming through the window in an effort to alleviate even a fraction of the discomfort, while his other hand reached out blindly for the nightstand.

He had grabbed his flask, uncapped it, and downed half of the whiskey into his stomach before he’d even fully realized what he’d done. All he could do is stare at it and his tremoring hand like they had betrayed him in the cruelest way.

_Good job, Qrow._ He thought bitterly. _Twenty-four hours sober. Really earned that AA chip._

Ruby was going to be so disappointed.

(That notion only made sure the rest of the flask was emptied quicker.)

Groggily, he shuffled his way down the hall, hearing nothing but silence in the rooms he passed. He didn’t expect that anyone would be up at daybreak – so he was unpleasantly surprised to find Yang sitting on the couch, staring down at the floor blankly. He had to wonder how long she’d been like that.

“Morning firecracker.” He called.

She didn’t even raise her head to acknowledge him. “Morning.” She mumbled.

He shifted on his feet, debating what to do. When it came to raising the girls, Tai and he both had their strengths. His were generally in the ‘fun uncle’ category, such as keeping the pair entertained even on the dullest of days or making them laugh when they were feeling lousy. But the emotional connection, shit? Especially with Yang? No surprise that was all Tai’s forte. Especially when Qrow pretended his own set of ugly emotions didn’t exist 364 days out of the year.

He knew being the fun uncle probably wouldn’t work now, but he tried anyways. “Well, since we’re both up at the ass-crack of dawn, how about I make us coffee?”

“Sure.” Not even a chuckle.

Knowing that was probably the best he was getting right now, he strode over into the next room. Much like the rest of the house they’d been graciously provided with, the kitchen was so immaculately white that he was pretty sure the snow outside was getting jealous. It was also spotless and untouched. They’d all been drained coming in, no one having the energy to really explore. He was sure that would change quickly, once a half-dozen starving teenagers woke up and tried to band together to make breakfast. Hopefully, experience would remind Ren to kick Ruby and Weiss out before the two of them pretended they could make anything even as simple as pancakes. As he shuffled about the cupboards, locating all the necessary items he’d need for the coffee, he was quietly thankful that Jimmy was, if nothing else, a well-accommodating kind of guy.

_James._ Qrow sighed, setting one of the mugs down heavily, headache brewing anew as he thought about the General. Beyond the very short briefing of how they’d gotten into Atlas’ air space (Which came with a lot of stern lectures on how ‘stealing is wrong and do you know how much paperwork I’m going to have to submit to cover this up?’), not much else had been said or revealed last night. It wasn’t hard for James to believe their haggard group was too exhausted to go into details. He _trusted_ them when they told him nothing was immediately pressing and that it could wait until morning. The most paranoid guy in all of Remnant trusted **them** , completely unaware of Oz’s cane hiding in the folds of Oscar’s coat or that the Relic of Knowledge was stuffed in the corner of Weiss’ luggage.

Shit was really going to hit the fan later today and Qrow wasn’t sure if he was ready for it.

The sputtering of the coffee maker tuned him back into the present and he pushed that issue aside for now. He poured the two cups once the pot had finished filling, adding sugar and cream to Yang’s and a shot of brandy to his, before heading back into the living room. Beyond pulling her feet onto the couch to cross them underneath her, she’d hardly moved. She accepted her cup with a quiet thanks.

Qrow settled down in the recliner adjacent to her, watching her stare into the mug, taking a sip of his own. “You doing alright?”

“Yeah. I’m just-” She frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

“Thinking about yesterday?” It was hard to miss her flinch as he said that. On the field, Qrow was an effective huntsman, always looking for the opponent’s weak spots and going in for the kill the moment the opportunity presented itself. He’d been told before that his method of talking to people often reflected that technique. Which he was pretty sure was Tai’s ‘old wiseman’ way of saying he had no tact.

Still, could he really be faulted when it got results?

Because Yang finally slumped and said, “I didn’t think I’d feel like this, you know? I knew being a huntress wasn’t going to be like the stories. There isn’t always going to be some magical speech to turn the bad guy around or some convenient cliff for them to fall over by mistake. I knew going out there to stop criminals meant one day I might have to… to kill someone. I thought, if I really had to do it, if I had absolutely no choice, then I’d feel awful about it. Or so guilty that I’d be praying someone would throw me in jail.”

He lent forward. “How do you feel?”

She laughed, a choked and bitter sound. “ _Relieved_.” She finally looked at him, tears brimming in her eyes. “I killed him and I feel relieved. Doesn’t that make me a terrible person?”

He watched one tear escape, rolling down her cheek. “Of course it doesn’t Yang.” He set his own cup aside in favor of taking hers that was shaking so badly in her grasp it was spilling over the sides. Once he’d placed it beside his, he focused on her again. “If you didn’t do it first, then Adam was going to kill you. He was going to kill Blake. And he was going to go on to kill others. You stopping him here prevents a lot of other innocent lives from being lost. Or from him coming after you and Blake again.”

“I know… I know but, when I think about it, all it means to me is that I’m glad I _survived_.” She spit the word like a curse. “Doesn’t that make me-”

“-Like Raven?” Qrow finished for her, seeing how she recoiled. “No, because you’re a huntress, not a cold-blooded murderer.” He reached out, placing a hand on her knee. “And being a huntress means you have to stop people like Adam, no matter what it takes. Sure, we’ll put them behind bars if we can, save those we can, but when push comes to shove and our lives and others are on the line, faltering isn’t an option.”

She snuffled, wiping away her tears and nodding. As he drew back, she asked, “How did you feel? The first time you had to…?”

The memory resurfaced in a flash. He was almost able to believe he was really there with how clear some of the details were. Like the precise squelching sound of his sword being removed from the body. The exact tangy scent of blood mixing with wet mud. How he shook as sobs tore from his throat. The way Raven’s nails sharply dug into his shoulders when she hugged him, whispering over and over how he had to do it. This was survival.

It wouldn’t be the last time someone from the tribe would try to kill them; but the first would always be the most powerful, simply because the man who attempted it was the same one they’d once called father.

Qrow cleared his throat of the tightness that threaded there, picking up his coffee once more. “A lot like you, actually.” He felt the burn of the alcohol as it went down. “At least, at first. Once what I had done really set in, it messed me up something good.”

The shaking had returned. She clasped her hands together to hide it. “How did you get past it?”

“There isn’t any ‘getting past it’. There’s only two things you can do: Stop or go forward.” He tilted his head her way. “No shame in doing either one, but that’s a choice you gotta make.”

Yang nodded slowly, before getting to her feet. “Right.” She reached down, picking up her mug. “I think I’m gonna go lie down for a bit.” He watched her cross the room, only for her to pause, a shadow of her old spark there in her eyes. “Thanks Uncle Qrow.”

He smiled. “Anytime firecracker.”

* * *

Standing in front of a room full of kids silently staring him down, so silent he could hear each and every crack of the burning fire in the fireplace, brought back an alarming sense of déjà vu that Qrow found he did not like. At all.

It was Jaune who finally broke it, leaning forward, “You… you can’t be serious. You want us to lie? Not tell General Ironwood anything we found out?”

Blake’s ears turned back. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“Sure doesn’t.” Yang bit out angrily, scowling his way. “What happened to ‘We’re better than that’?”

Qrow exhaled slowly, trying to keep his own temper in check as he tried to formulate a response. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.

“Yeah because knowing has done us all such great favors.” Weiss said, sarcasm built so high in her tone that it was throwing its own shade

Ruby looked at her in shock, “Weiss-!”

“Tell me I’m wrong!” She challenged, ponytail snapping as she twisted to face her. After a few seconds of nothing, she waved a hand outward, gesturing at them all, “You don’t get it, because you don’t live here. But that? Out there?” She gestured to the large window where grey airships hovered in the sky like large, dark predators waiting to strike. “Atlas shouldn’t look like it’s preparing for a war!”

Well said, Mini Ice Queen. “Right.” Qrow said, pulling the attention back to himself. “And with Jimmy looking ready to shoot at the first person who _sneezes_ wrong, perhaps a little delicacy wouldn’t kill us right now.”

“You really think the general will react that badly?” Ren asked, expression more thoughtful than antagonistic.

“Well I can guarantee he won’t be jumping for joy. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to know. He does. But, he already looks like hell as it is and with tensions this bad, it’s not a risk worth taking right now.” He replied, shifting his weight some as he swept his gaze along the room, gauging the rest of them and seeing the unease still weighing most of them. “James has always had trust issues. The whole shitshow at Beacon were partially _because_ of those trust issues. Give him any more reason to believe those are valid and there’s no telling where his mind will go.”

That seemed to do the trick, mostly. No one was really happy, except maybe Weiss who didn’t really smile but at least appeared notably more relaxed. Jaune shifted from glaring at him to frowning at the floor. Ren and Nora glanced their leader’s way then at each other anxiously. Likewise, Blake was giving Yang the same look, but the other woman was so caught up in sneering into space she didn’t appear to notice it. Oscar sat in the recliner, turning the cane handle in his hand over and over, his head tilting in a familiar way that had Qrow’s eyes narrowing.

Before he could address it, his niece spoke up, voice sharp as her scythe.

“No.” Ruby’s hands curled into fists where they rested on her thighs, before she stood. “If we do this, then aren’t we doing things exactly the same way Professor Ozpin was? The way that _wasn’t_ working?”

He floundered for something to say. Even his best advice meant nothing to this retaliatory, assertive version of his niece he kept being faced with. He found himself wishing Maria hadn’t left so early to get her eyes fixed, because he could really use the back up. Or, better yet, Tai. Though, there weren’t enough shooting stars in the whole goddamn galaxy to account for the amount of times he had wished Tai had been able to accompany him since this whole mess started.

At least, until the truth of it all came out. If Qrow thought he was a wreck, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how his best friend was going to handle this – if he would be able to at all. Learning that they all could have chosen another path had they just been given all the facts. That Raven or Summer or both might still be around had they just been given the **_choice_** …

The sickening thought only served to boil up the anger that had been shimmering for days now, turning his blood hot as he shouted, “Yeah, it isn’t working! But that’s the fucking thing! All of us; James, Glynda, team STRQ! We should have known the minute we were being recruited! Not twenty goddamned years later! For everything we were signing up to lose, for everything we **did** lose, we should have fucking known!”

His gaze landed on Oscar, trying to tear straight through him to the lurking soul hiding within _. I know you’re listening, you bastard_!

The boy quickly looked away.

Qrow had to fight the urge to punch something. Instead, he looked back to his niece, into knife-silver eyes that cut him with their compassion that bordered pitying. He took a steadying breath, continuing more calmly, “We didn’t fucking get that. And now, all of us have to deal with the fallout for revealing _his_ secrets.” He sighed, feeling the weight of that pressing down on him. It was heavy. “So, it’s not a matter of if we should, it’s a matter of when. And I may be as insensitive as they come, but even I can tell ya this ain’t it.”

Ruby’s jaw tightened and he was almost certain she was readying another argument, but the slump in her shoulders came next. “…Alright. I don’t like it though.”

It was hard looking at her like that. As if he’d broken her spirit.

He averted his gaze. “Yeah. Me either kiddo.”

* * *

At dusk, hours after the meeting with James in which he’d spent a good deal of it lying through his teeth, Qrow found himself stretched out on one of the lavish couches placed inside the enclosed balcony attached off of the living room. The walls and ceiling were built entirely out of glass, making it easy to watch the fighter planes weaving and bobbing in dynamic practice maneuvers as they soared through the orange-colored sky. They looked uncannily like the albatrosses he used to watch in Patch as they dove over the water to catch fish.

Living on an island meant there really was no excuse not to go to the beach at every available opportunity, but he never minded. There was just something so relaxing about sitting back, listening to the ocean roar and watching the birds cycle lazily over the waves.

“Did you want to join them?” He could still hear Summer ask when she caught him staring one day. “You’d fit right in.”

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious.” Qrow snipped back, getting to his feet so he could help her sit down on the blanket he’d spread over the sand.

“Thank you.” She said, sounding out of breath as she placed a hand on her bulging stomach. With only two months left to go, she was starting to look like she’d stuffed a globe under her shirt – and acting like she carrying the weight of one too. “What a day.”

He spared a glance down the beach, spying Tai and Yang still working on their sandcastle, the little girl’s squeals audible from here as she slapped at the mud. “Too much for you?”

Summer sighed, leaning back on one hand. “I just don’t have the energy I used to. And she’s kicking up a storm today.” She rubbed a hand over the space where he assumed she was getting internally beat at. It seemed her appendix was today’s target practice. “She’s probably gonna be a fighter, just like her family.”

He turned back to his birds, watching one dive into the water. “You alright with that?”

“I think you misunderstand how kids work Qrow.” She laughed. “I don’t get to decide that. All I can do is be there when she needs me. But only she gets to choose what path she wants to take in life.”

The bird reemerged from the depths, a bass between its beak. It turned, gliding back for its nest hidden in the rocks where it no doubt had hungry chicks waiting. Qrow nudged Summer’s arm. “Yeah but, what if she wants to take over the world or something?”

He got shoved in return. “What kind of child do you think I’m raising? A Brother of Darkness spawn?”

“Hmmm.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked towards Tai meaningfully. “I always knew it was suspicious his name meant ‘dragon’.”

Her eyes rolled. “Pff. If anything he’d be the _light_ dragon.”

“It’s just a cover up, meant to fool us all! It’s so genius. You’d never suspect it!” Qrow insisted, leaning in close and cupping a hand around his mouth, whispering conspiratorially, “Hurry! If we run now we might still make it!”

Summer chuckled, pushing his face away. “You’re the worst.”               

He grinned. “And yet you still let me hang around.”

“Well, of course! Why turn down a free babysitter?”

Qrow gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. “Oh, flowerbud. I’m hurt and appalled. Is that all you see me as? Convenient free labor?”

“No, no!” She waggled a finger. “You’re also an excellent human shield.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” He carried on, really pouring in the theatrics now as he craned his neck back and placed the back of his hand against his forehead. “The truth, it pains me! I’m so unloved!”

“Uh, should I even ask?”

Qrow opened his eyes, looking up at Tai who stood before him, eyebrow arched questioningly. From her spot in her father’s arms, Yang was doing her best to mimic the expression.

Not about to break character, he called in mock horror, “Oh no the dragon of darkness has come for me!” He flopped over into the sand. “Goodbye cruel world!”

Summer laughed, which only got stronger when Yang also burst into vibrant giggles and clapped her chubby little hands. Still mildly confused but willing to play along, Tai said, “Well, now that Qrow’s died and we’ve all cheered about it, what say we get back home?”

“That sounds lovely. I’d like to put my feet up.” Summer looked towards her fallen teammate. “Ready to go-”

“-Qrow?”

Qrow’s eyes snapped open, looking straight up at the starry sky, before jerking up in his seat. When had he drifted off? He rubbed the back of his neck where a crick had formed, turning to look towards the doorway.

Ruby’s shadow stretched along the ground where it reflected from the light inside. It was hard to make out her expression when it was cast in darkness. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s fine.” He said groggily. “You need something?”

“Um, yeah. If you had a minute.” When he nodded, she closed the slider behind her and came over. He swung his legs off the couch to make room for her and she sat down heavily, falling back into the cushions with a loud sigh.

He studied her for a moment, better able to make out the troubled look on her face. “What’s on your mind?”

“I understand why we did but, I couldn’t stop asking myself if it was right, lying to General Ironwood like that. It just kept bothering me, and I couldn’t figure out why.” Ruby said, crossing her arms over her stomach. “Until I started to wonder if this is how Professor Ozpin felt, when he did this to people.” An argument rose and died in his throat as he watched the way her hands twisted into the sleeves of her blouse. “When he did this to you or dad… did he feel bad about, like I do? Or did he just stop caring?” Trembling overtook her jaw and shook her rising voice. “Then I thought, should that even matter? Why should his feelings mean _anything_ when other people got hurt for it? But, then, how can I even be angry with him if I’m acting just like him? That’s not right, is it? I-”

“Whoa, whoa.” Qrow interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Slow down a sec, kiddo. You’re working yourself up too much.”

“S-Sorry.” She sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m so upset about this.”

For the second time in one day, he desperately wished reverting back to his ‘fun uncle’ persona would solve all his niece’s problems and make everything right in the world like it once used to. But just like her sister, it wasn’t what Ruby wanted or needed.

So, Qrow steeled himself against the impact of what he was about to do, turning to her, “Maybe you’re not.”

She threw him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

“Ruby, you’ve always been a compassionate kid. After everything you saw Oz go through, you probably want to be sympathetic, but something in your head is holding you back.” He tapped his own temple. “A question that keeps nagging at you. One that’s making you angrier then you’ve probably ever been. ‘Course you feel conflicted. But no one can blame ya, you have a right to be mad. We all do.” As he spoke, his own anger surged, bleeding like poison into his tone as he hissed out, “Because if Oz had been honest with your mom, wouldn’t she still be here today?”

He knew he hit the nail right on the head with the way Ruby’s face twisted into grief, though she shook her head as if to deny it. “But that’s stupid too! I mean yeah, I thought about it but… but so what!? It’s not like I lost you or Yang or dad. I don’t even remember anything about mom! How can I be this upset over someone I never even _knew?_ I-I-”

She crumbled before him, tears spilling anew, her broken sobs a heartbreaking noise that Qrow could barely bear listening to. He reached out, tugging her in and holding her tight, wishing that was enough to make the pain go away and knowing it never could be. “Sssh. It’s okay, it’s okay kiddo. You don’t have to reason it, you just have to let it hurt.”

His words only made her cry harder, her arms wrapping around him. He felt a tug at the back of his neck and he knew she was clutching at his cape.

Qrow could still recall when she used to do that all the time when she was small. Sometimes she’d be clinging so tight that when she was wearing nothing but socks, he could easily pull her along on the hardwood floors back home. More than once, when the girls would play hide and seek, she’d convince him to sit on the couch so she could squeeze in behind him and duck underneath it, leaving him to play innocent when Yang came looking for her. During their walks in the forest, when he’d let her sit on his shoulders, she’d pull the fabric up over herself, making grand claims about how it gave her super powers and she’d protect him now.

She’d go on and on about how his cape was her favorite thing in the world, to the point that when they were shopping in town, she’d go up to complete strangers and tell them so. One day, he finally asked her why.

He never forgot the way Ruby smiled, so large the little gaps from her missing teeth were visible, as she proudly declared, “’Cause you wear it Uncle Qrow!”

To her, it was nothing but a simple truth, said as innocent and pure as she herself was.

To him though, it was as if the world under his feet had shifted eternally. He’d always cared for his niece, but that little moment was what made something truly paternal swell in him. He’d felt so oddly empowered, almost believing he could have stormed the great nations and singlehandedly eliminated all the Grimm within them just to protect this one little life that suddenly meant everything to him.

It was a ridiculous notion, because as Qrow held Ruby now, he realized he was no more impressive than any other father whom eventually had to listen to a daughter cry out the anguish and pain he’d failed to shield her from. All of them equal in the way they would gladly stand up to be her hero and ultimately were left with only the poor consolation of being her supportive sidekick instead.

Still, if that was all he could be, then he’d damn well give it his all. So he sat there and rubbed her back, letting the minutes pass without a word. Waited until there was nothing but slight hitches and then not even that, just an occasional snivel as the tension leaked out of her.

Slowly, he let his grip slacken, letting her pull away. “Feel better?”

“I guess.” Ruby dabbed her face with the collar of her hood, sniffling every now and again. Once dry, she looked to him with eyes that were bloodshot, the skin around them swollen and blotchy, and said with a voice still a little choked up, “I thought of her.”

The sudden change of topic caught him off guard. “Huh?”

“When I was trying to use my eyes against the Leviathan, I was trying to think up memories of people I cared about to make them work. The last person I thought of was mom.”

Qrow was pretty sure his eyebrows hit his hairline. “Must have been a good thought.”

“More like,” She placed a hand over her heart. “A good feeling.”

An aching tinge of nostalgia hit him. He smiled around it. “Yeah. Summer was always good at invoking that.” He relaxed back against the armrest of the couch. “And hey, anytime you want to hear about her, you know Tai and I are always here.”

Ruby seemed to perk up, though it fell just as quickly. “Dad’s not going to take any of this well, is he?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it.” Qrow said as he worried about it **_a lot_**. “I’ll ease him into it. It’ll be a hard blow but Tai’s tough. He’ll get through it.”

“Wait, you will?” She said, tilting her head quizzically. “Won’t we be telling him together?”

Shit. “Uhhhh…”

“Uncle Qrow?”

He ran a hand through his hair, mentally cursing himself. This wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to tell her; but, no time like the present he supposed. “Thing is, once the relic is locked away that’s it. Mission’s done. So, I was kind of thinking I’d… head home after this.”

“But, why?”

“Well, heh…” His grin was more of a grimace. “Patch isn’t the worst place to retire.”

Ruby’s jaw dropped open. “ ** _Whaaat!?_** ” That screech could have broken the sound barrier. “You’re going to stop being a huntsman?!”

“Kind of the definition of retirement kiddo.”

Her arms flew upwards. “But! But, but, but! You’re Uncle Qrow! Huntsman extraordinaire! You beat Grimm butt on a daily basis! What are you going to do if you retire? Beat people at _bingo?_ ”

Qrow flicked her on the top of her head. “Hey! I’m not eighty!” When she only continued to pout at him, he sighed. “Look. My whole life I always followed someone else’s guide. Oz, your mom, Raven. There was always someone there to tell me what to do or where to go in life.” He folded his arms over his legs, meeting his niece’s gaze steadily. “The only time I ever made a choice for myself was when I started teaching. All so I could stay nearby and help out at the house. But that was a long time ago. Now…” He cupped his hands together, turning the ring on his index finger around idly. “Without Oz, I’m lost. Even if I wanted to keep being a Huntsman on my own, my heart’s not in it anymore. More than that, it makes me a liability for you kids.”

Ruby shook her head. “No, it-”

“Don’t lie.” He cut her off.

She winced, hunching over a bit. “But if you go, what are we going to do?”

He smiled. How was it she could both be a force that altered people’s principles and yet still so innocently naïve? “Whatever you want.” He started ticking them off on his hand. “You could travel around, picking up odd jobs throughout Remnant. Or you kids could finish up your schooling. Get your actual licenses so you can enter the rosters legitimately. Then there’s Beacon. It’s still in mid-restoration. I’m sure they could use all the help they can get. There’s no wrong answer, it’s just what you feel is most right.” He gestured her way. “I told you before that you’d go far, remember? I still believe that today. Heh. No.” The image of her standing in front of that Atlas mech, demanding Cordovin to stand down, pushed itself to the forefront of his mind. “I believe that even _more_ now.”

Ruby grinned, looking a tad embarrassed. “Uncle Qrow…”

“You’re gonna be just fine. Whether I’m here or not, you can chart your own path.” He had figured when he finally admitted it aloud, it would crush him to say it. He was blind-sighted by the pride that overwhelmed him instead.

“But,” She turned away, trying to hide her sorrow. “I’ll miss you if you go.”

He laughed, a somber note held within it. “I’m not falling off the face of the planet. I’m just going home. And when you girls are ready to come back, I’ll be waiting.” His expression turned sour. “Though, if Tai’s convinced me to take up gardening in that amount of time, do me a favor and kick my ass.”

She chuckled softly. “Deal.”

The sound of the slider opening drew their attention. Nora stuck her head out. “There you two are! Dinner’s ready. Hurry up or I’m eating your share!” She zipped away before they could comment.

Qrow shared an apprehensive look with Ruby before they both jumped to their feet. Ren’s cooking wasn’t something to miss and, left unchecked, Nora really would vacuum up their meals in a heartbeat. Before they stepped back inside though, Ruby caught him in a surprise hug. He paused, staring down at her.

“I love you.” She grinned up at him.

If he looked closely, he could still see the gap-toothed one from her toddler years imposed over it.

He wound an arm around her, fondness filling him. “Love you too, kiddo.”

Once she’d let go, he followed her lead into the kitchen, watching as she darted around the table to plop down in the seat between her sister and Weiss, while he took the one beside Maria.

“Hm, you seem in good spirits.” She commented, new spectacles blinking curiously at him.

He glanced towards his nieces. Yang was playfully stealing a sushi roll from Blake’s plate, the anxiety and uncertainty from this morning tempered behind her stubborn tenacity. Likewise, Ruby was already chatting happily with her friends, the emotionally charged conversation of a hurting child resting away to favor the self-assurance a leader needed instead. Both issues weren’t gone, maybe they never would be. But for the time being, they were both okay.

“Yeah.” He finally replied. “It’s been a good day.”

Qrow supposed if the only choice in life he ever stopped to make on his own was to help raise the two women he now saw before him, he didn’t do too bad after all.


End file.
